Big Time Reunion
by Liviyan
Summary: A long-time friend of the boys comes back into their lives...which now consist of fame and stardom. How will they react? Carlos/OC. Takes place after "Big Time Blogger".
1. Big Time Reunion

Big Time Reunion

**Summary:** An old friend of the boys comes back into their life. How will they react? Carlos/OC (This takes place after "Big Time Blogger" and includes episodes up until the latest episode. =])

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Big Time Rush, band OR show. Just the OC character I add in here, whom I based her looks off of my friend.

"Morning, boys!" Mrs. Knight called cheerfully walking into the living room where the four Big Time Rush stars were splayed across the couch.

"Uuuugh..." they all groaned in response. "Hi, Mom," Kendall said. "What is wrong with all of you? Normally you're all up and bouncing around," Mrs. Knight said.

Katie walked in behind her mother and said, "They're all just sore from chasing Deke around the Palm Woods yesterday so they could get a good blog." Mrs. Knight just nodded in understanding.

"But it was worth it! We got a good blog from Deke..." James started.

"...and Big Time Rush is still a big time hit," Logan finished. "We're waiting on Kelly or Gustavo to call for when we need to go to the studio," Kendall put in.

"Ah. Well, me and Katie are going to the store today..." she trailed off when her phone rang. "Hello?" she answered, paused, and her eyes lit up. "Oh, hel-_lo_! Of course I remember you! How are you? Really? That's good," she said enthusiastically, occasionally shooting glances at the boys, who didn't notice because they were all laying on the couch lazily with their eyes closed. "Uh-huh...yep...okay, don't worry. Everything will work out perfectly. Okay, talk to you later, bye!" She hung up and put her phone back in her purse. "And while we're out, we're going to pick up a little surprise for you boys. See you later!" Mrs. Knight called over shoulder as she walked out the door, nudging Katie out the door.

Carlos looked up. "A surprise? For what?" They all shrugged, and Carlos' head flopped back down. James got up off the couch. "I gotta go to the bathroom..."

"And fix your hair for the millionth time?" Kendall chimed in. "No!...Yes..." James said before disappearing around the corner.

"Well, we gotta do something today..." Kendall sighed. "Noooo..." Carlos groaned, "I don't wanna..."

"We can't sit here all morning!"

"Sure we cou-" Logan was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He looked at it for a second before answering, "Hello?" His face slowly turned from one of confusion, to one of happiness. "Leah! Whoa, how have you been? How's New York? How's Mom?" Logan asked while Kendall and Carlos exchanged looks of excitement.

Leah Mitchell is Logan's fraternal twin sister, only 15 minutes younger. She was the boys' best friend, and was the best goalie on their hockey team, as well as the only girl. Because their parents divorced, their mom moved to New York City while the twins stayed with their dad in Minnesota. Then, Leah decided to go visit their mom, while Logan didn't want to go. Just a week after she left, Gustavo and Kelly came to town, and the boys went off to LA.

"Really? That's great! Glad you're having fun...when you going home to see Dad? Okay...yeah...it's great hearing from you again, sis! Hang on, Kendall and Carlos wanna say hi!" Logan held up his phone, and the other two yelled "Hi, Leah!" into the phone. They could hear her say 'Hi, you guys!' back, and Logan returned the phone to his ear. "Cool...call us soon, okay? Great. Okay, bye!" He hung up, smiling widely. "She said she's having a blast in New York City, she really misses us, and she congratulates us on a job well done. Oh, and she's sending us something, we should get it real soon."

"She's sent us something? How soon?" Kendall asked.

"She said we should get it by the end of the day."

"What's going on?" James said, walking back in. "What'd I miss?"

"Leah just called!" Carlos burst out, smiling from ear to ear. Behind his back, Logan and Kendall exchanged knowing smiles. It was common knowledge that Carlos had a huge thing for Leah, ever since they were 9 and Leah beat up the kid that stole his favorite hockey stick.

"Leah? Mitchell? You mean, blonde, little, bright-color-wearing Leah?" James asked, looking from Carlos to Kendall to Logan and back. "Yeah, Leah. As in, my sister," Logan said.

"She said she sent us a surprise, and we should get it by the end of the day!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Which is odd...since first, Mom is getting us something...then Leah calls right after to tell us she sent something..."

"Who cares, man? We're getting _two_ surprises in _one_ day!" James broke out into a smile. "So, who wants to go to the pool? You can try getting the Simms twins to try and date you again," he said to Carlos.

Carlos shook his head, "Nuh-uh! Why would I ask them out?"

James looked around and laughed, "Uh, 'cause they're hot?" he said as if Carlos said something stupid. "No," Carlos said, picking up his helmet and jamming it on his head, "I'm just going to sit and chill! See ya there!" He grabbed a towel and ran out, the other three following much slower.

"Right...he'll sit back, relax, and think about Leah the whole time," Kendall said jokingly.

"Oh, right...Carlos...Leah, no wonder he won't bother with the Simms twins or the Jennifers..." James said.

"Guys, really? This is my little sister we're talking about..." Logan said. "Kendall rolled his eyes and slung an arm over his shoulder. "Logan...she's only younger than you by 15 minutes, not 5 years. Also, would you rather it were a complete stranger hitting on her instead of our dearest and closest friend?" Logan nodded reluctantly.

"Besides," James said, "it's not like she wouldn't be able to handle him...or anyone. She could beat all four of us up in one go!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm going to read my book, and not think of my sister dating anyone, thank you." Logan pulled out his book as soon as he sat in a deck chair. Carlos was in the middle of a water-basketball game with some of the others. Kendall and James looked at each other, "Wanna go sneak into Bitters' office and cut the sleeves of his jacket?" James asked. Kendall smiled, "Let's."

-3 hours later-

The boys, laughing, ran into the apartment and shut the door behind them and leaned on the door. "That was awesome!" James said finally.

"You guys are insane!" Logan said, shaking his head but smiling all the same.

Carlos stopped laughing long enough to make his way to the kitchen, saying "I'm hungry. Is you're mom back yet?" he asked Kendall.

Kendall looked around, "Mom? Katie?" He walked through the apartment, checking each room before going back to the rest of them. "Huh...no, they're not...that's odd, shouldn't take this long to go shopping...I mean, James doesn't even take this long." James shot Kendall a look.

"Hey, where's my book?" Logan wailed. The other three helped look around the room. "Where's the last time you saw it?" Kendall asked. "By the pool..." Logan trailed off. "The pool!" they all shouted at each other, then took off downstairs.

They ran around the pool area, all the while trying to avoid Bitters' path of rage, his jacket sleeves cut off to the shoulders. A half hour later, they successfully managed to retrieve Logan's coveted book (and Carlos grabbed a couple snacks on the way) and made it back to their apartment without detection.

"Hey guys!" Katie called from the couch, where she was watching TV. "What's going on?" Mrs. Knight asked, looking astonished.

"Had to grab my book, I forgot it downstairs." Logan said, the four of them composing themselves. "O-okay..." Mrs. Knight said. "Sorry we got back so late, things took longer than I expected."

"Yeah, um...not to sound rude, Mom, but where were you?" Kendall asked. "Yeah, where's our present?" Carlos asked curiously, to which the others looked at him, and Logan whispered "Carlos!" Carlos looked down sheepishly.

"It's okay. Your surprise should be here," she said, looking at her watch, "in 3...2...1..."

"Hey, fellas! What's up?"

The boys looked up in shock, jaws-dropped, wide-eyed shock, at what-no, _who_-just came into the room.

**Whoa, cliffy! I got Chapter 2 coming soon, don't worry! Reviews would be nice. :) But nothing mean, please.**


	2. Big Time Surprise

**Alright, here's chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush...just Leah, and any plot that involves her...**

The boys looked in shock at the girl standing in front of them. "Aaaaahhhh..."

The girl looked at them, her smile faltering slightly. "Um, guys? Hello? You guys okay?" The boys couldn't quite pull themselves together, as she looked at Mrs. Knight and Katie.

Finally, Logan seemed to find some words. "Leah!" He shouted, running and giving her a hug. She squealed slightly as he spun her around, "Logan!" He put her down and held her at arms length, while she fixed her hair. "You look great!"

She giggled, "Thanks! I-" she was cut off as the other guys jumped in and basically tackled the siblings.

"Leah!"

"You're here! This is amazing!"

"We missed you!"

Leah laughed openly as her best friends crowded around her. "Thanks...New York City really got to me." It was true; the Leah they remember had long, blonde hair, yet the one they were looking at had short, dark brown hair. She was also wearing a black shirt that said 'Paramore!' across the front, black nail polish, a pair of jeans and a pair of Hightops, instead of the bright colors she loved to wear. James lifted a piece of her hair, "We see that! What happened to your long, blond hair? It's all...short and brown!"

"And black? You used to hate wearing black," Kendall added. Leah nodded as if they were rambling, "Yeah, yeah, I know...but Mom took me out for a girls' day, and I thought I'd get a new look! New hair, new clothes...and look!" She pulled her hair back to show that she got ear piercings...four new ones, so that she had two in her lobes, each, and one in the middle of her ear.

"You pierced your ears again? I thought you hated that idea!" Logan said in astonishment. Leah rolled her eyes, "Wow, you must've turned deaf! I said that I got a new look!" she punched his arm, to which he replied "Ow!"

Carlos laughed, "Well, that didn't change!"

Leah turned around to appraise her friends. "So, Kendall...you got taller!" He laughed, "Yep! That, or you shrunk." She giggled, "No, I didn't shrink! I actually grew about 2 inches, thank you very much!" She looked at James, "Diamond! Still looking good!" She pointed her fingers at him in a gesture, which he returned. "So are you, Lee!" She then turned to Carlos, "Hey, man! Still wearing the helmet I gave you?" she asked, smiling. Carlos nodded enthusiastically, "Yup!"

James leaned towards him and said to Leah, "He never takes it off, actually." Carlos glared at him and elbowed him in the ribs, to which he responded "Ow!"

Leah smiled, "Glad to see stardom hasn't changed you at all." Logan slung an arm around his sister's shoulders. "So, what are you doing out here, anyway? I thought you were in New York for another week." Leah shook her head, "No. I mean, I was supposed to, but there was something I had to do out here, so here I am!" She said, looking at all of them.

The boys all looked at each other before looking at her. "Out here? Like what?" Leah's smile was replaced with a look of confusion. "You mean you don't know? Wouldn't you're producer have told you?"

"What are you talking about?" Kendall asked. The boys all looked at her questioningly. "Gustavo hasn't talked to us at all today."

Leah looked surprised, "Oh, okay. Well, better let him tell you instead of me." She smiled, "Anyways, I'm setting up my stuff in your room." Mrs. Knight looked a little nervous. "I don't like having a girl sleeping in you boys' room...but there's nowhere else..."

Logan looked at her, "C'mon, Mrs. K. It's my sister, no one's going to do anything." Leah put a hand on her shoulder, "Besides, _if_ they try anything, they'll be looking out of black eyes for weeks." she smiled sweetly, and the boys gulped.

A cell-phone started to ring, and everyone took out their own phones to see who was ringing; Kendall answered. "Hello? Ah, Kelly! We wondering if we'd hear from you today. Yeah, we're coming...but, can we bring a friend of ours today? Cool! See you in ten." He hung up, smiling. "We're going to Rocque Records, as Gustavo is announcing something big," he turned to Leah, "and you're coming with us. Mom? D'you think you could drive us over real quick?"

"Kelly, where are those dogs?" Gustavo shouted. Kelly rolled her eyes, "I told you, they're coming! And they're bringing their friend along, so be nice."

Gustavo snorted, "Be nice? Please!" The boys filed into his office, Leah trailing behind. "Ah, there you are! Okay, listen up: Griffan has decided that-who's this?" he said, pointing at Leah.

"I'm Leah Mitchell...I'm Logan's twin sister."

"Hmmmm...you don't look like him..."

"That's...because we're fraternal twins...anyway, I'm here for the thing..." Leah trailed off, exchanging glances with her brother. "What thing?" Gustavo asked. "The thing...the reason the guys are here?" Leah supplied.

"Oh! Right...anyways, Griffan has decided that the band needs five members...again." Gustavo said. The boys groaned, "No! Gustavo, do you remember what happened the last time he wanted five band members?" James asked, planting himself in front of Gustavo.

Gustavo stood up suddenly, making James back up in fear. "I know what happened! But Griffan doesn't want a bad boy this time..."

"What does he want?" Carlos asked.

"He wants a girl in the band."

"_What?_ " The boys gasped. "B-but...I thought we were a boy band! I mean, not that I don't like girls or anything, but..." Logan said hurriedly. Gustavo sighed as he sat back down. "I know, but Griffan said it was the new thing...every good band has at least one girl member...I was going to make you guys the come-back boy band, buuut..."

"What Griffan wants, Griffan gets," Kelly added. The boys sighed and looked at each other. "Well, who is it?" Kendall asked. "Is it Jo?" he added hopefully. "Who's Jo?" Leah whispered in Logan's ear. "Jo's his girlfriend," he replied.

"No...that's the thing. We couldn't decide on one, because all our options stunk, sooo...," Gustavo started.

"We decided to have a competition, of sorts, between girls who want to be in the band. A singing competition," Kelly finished. "A competition?" James asked. "Really? Well...that's new..."

"Wait a minute!" Logan said, turning to his sister, "that's why you're here, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded, "Yep! I have to try to be in your band; you guys know how badly I wanted to make it big in music. Also, if I get it, I could be in a band with my best friends! How cool would that be?" Leah said.

"How will you decide who gets it?" Carlos asked. "We'll hold the competition for two weeks, and it'll be like American Idol...except without Ryan Seacrest, and you dogs'll be the judges," Gustavo explained. The boys looked at each other, then back. "Great! We'll do it," they said in unison.

"Good dogs! Now, I'm tired and I have to pick Monty up from the vet, so no harmonies today...and we start tomorrow on that competition, got it?" Gustavo shouted the last couple words. The boys nodded vigorously and left the studio.

"Man, this is so exciting! Leah could be in the band with us!" Carlos exclaimed, hugging said girl who giggled and hugged him back. "You don't know for sure if I'm going to get it, though," she said, backing away slightly, with a serious expression. "And I really hope I do..."

"Don't worry about it...you'll be our best friend no matter what," James said. "Yeah, just do your best! We know how good you are, and until the whole thing's over we just sing, relax, and just be glad you're living with us, now!" Kendall said.

"See...that's the thing..." Leah said, wringing her hands, "I'm living with you now...while this is going on..." Logan looked at her anxiously, "Wait...Leah, you don't mean...?"

Leah nodded, "Yeah, I do. I hope for all our sakes I do win, because if I don't, I'm moving back to New York City, to stay with Mom," she said, looking at them nervously.

The boys looked at her, then at each other. "_WHAT?_"

**So, here was Chapter 2! I'm trying real hard to keep them in character, I absolutely LOVE this show, and I had this idea for awhile...anyways, Chapter 3 should be coming soon! Keep reviewing!**

**~Bella**


	3. Big Time Trouble

**Alright, Chapter 3 up and running! Let's see how the guys handle this shocking news, shall we? Oh, and thanks so much for you're reviews: Cali-not the state-Ride and Royal shadow1! You guys get free virtual cookies of your choice! Yay! Anyway, on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush...geez, get off my back...I just own Leah and my own love for the show. Also, I don't own any of the songs that I use in this chapter.**

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Slow down, _what!_?" James said, "What do you mean, going back to New York?"

Logan looked at her, "You'll go back to New York? To live there?" he asked incredulously. Leah nodded, "Yeah, to live there."

"Why?" Kendall asked, "You just got back from there! Why go back?" Carlos just remained silent, a look that was a mixture of shock, disbelief, and sadness on his face. "What about Dad?" Logan asked.

"Logan, you know how much Dad loved to travel. He's always wanted to travel around the world, and well, now's his chance to do that. I mean, I went off to New York, and you came here to be in a band, and then I came here to do the same thing. He's free to to just that! If I don't make it, I don't want to make Dad stay home. Besides, I love the city, so it's a win-win."

"It's not a win for us! Or you. We know how much you want this..." James said. Leah sighed, "Yeah, I do. So bad...but you guys have to promise me something," she added, seriously. When they nodded after a minute, she spoke again. "As much as I want to get this, I don't want you guys to choose me for unfair reasons, okay? I wanna win this fairly, and let everyone else have a chance. Promise?" She held up her hand as if she was going to arm wrestle someone.

After a minute of contemplating, Kendall nodded and grasped her hand with his own. "I promise not to interfere." Logan put his hand on top of theirs, nodding, "I promise, too." James put his hand on, "I promise! See? This is my promise face!" He did his little hand thing when he showed off 'The Face'.

They all looked at Carlos, who was looking down. "Carlos?" Leah asked quietly, "Please?" Carlos looked up at Kendall, then James, to Logan, and finally his gaze landed on Leah. Sighing, he put his hand slowly on top of everyone else's. "I...I promise," he mumbled. Leah's face lit up, "Thanks, guys! You're the greatest!" They quick group-hugged, then Leah said, "So can we go back home? I need a shower before bed. Plus, I'm starving!" She went up the hallway, and disappeared around the corner.

Carlos immediately turned around, "Guys! We _have_ to get Leah to win this!" he said, looking desperately at his friends. Kendall looked at him in disbelief, "Carlos! We promised her we wouldn't do anything. We've _never_ gone back on a promise before, and I'm not about to start now."

"Yeah! I even made my promise face! And my promise face does not lie!" James said. Carlos looked sadly at Logan, "Dude, you really want your sister to go back to the other side of the country?" Logan looked at the others before saying, "No, I don't. But we did promise her...and besides that, do you want her to kill you if you don't keep it?" Carlos looked at them all, "But...she just got back from New York...she's here! C'mon, guys, she's our best friend..."

"Carlos," Kendall said, putting a hand on his friends shoulder, "we know. We don't want her to leave, either. But Leah's not the only one competing. We need to be fair, okay?" he said gently. He had never seen his normally goofy friend so sad. _This is really taking a toll on him_, he thought. Logan put his arm around Carlos, and James was on the other side of Kendall, who said, "Don't worry about it right now, man. Let's just enjoy it for now, and who knows..."

"...she might win!" James said. Leah stuck her head around the corner, "Are you slowpokes coming? I'm huuuuuungry!" she whined. Carlos laughed, and looked at his friends, "Thanks, guys. Now, c'mon! I wanna show Leah the swirly slide!" he ran off in her direction excitedly. The other three looked at each other before walking down the hallway. "That boy's a hopeless case," Logan sighed.

"You know...Leah's looking pretty hot..."

"Hey! That's my sister!"

"Yeah, I know! I was just saying!"

"Yeah, well don't let Carlos hear you saying that...he'd kill you," Kendall laughed. "And relax, Logan. Remember, complete stranger? Or close friend?"

"I know, I know...can we go, now?" The boys all laughed as they left.

"Okay, so...here's the drill. You call the girl's names on this list, they come out, they sing a song, and you judge whether they make it into the next round or not. You can only disqualify four girls a day, got it?" Gustavo instructed. "It goes like this for two weeks. Hopefully, you dogs won't screw anything up," this earned him four offended looks, "and we'll have our fifth band member at the end of the two weeks. So, DON'T SCREW ANYTHING UP!" he shouted, then walked away.

"Well, I don't think we _could_ screw this up..." Kendall said. "Just listen to a bunch of girls sing all day," Logan said. "Uuuuuuuuugh..." they all groaned.

Leah peeked out from behind the curtain on the stage they were at, giving the boys a thumbs up. They all smiled and gave one back. Carlos stood up and yelled, "Good luck, Leah!" The boys looked at him, eyebrows raised, and Leah, looked around, smiling awkwardly, then disappeared back behind the curtain. Carlos looked around himself, feeling slightly stupid, and James pulled him back into his seat.

From Carlos' other side, Logan said, "Let's just get this over with..." He cleared his throat and said, much louder, "Okay, Sarah Ackley! You're up!"

A small blond, slightly frizzy-haired girl came on stage. "Hi! I'm such a big fan of you guys, and I'm so excited I'm here, I'm so happy I'm talking to you, this is great, my friend will _never_ believe this-"

"Um, Sarah? Could, you know, just...sing? Please?" Kendall asked.

"Oh! Right! Ahem," she cleared her throat, then began singing in a horribly off-key voice, "If we were a moviiiieee, and you were the riiiiight guuuuy..."

"THANK YOU! Um...good job, we'll get back to you, thanks!" James said. "Good job," Logan said. Sarah squealed a little and ran off stage. The James shook his head, "Next is...Kelly Anderson!"

-2 hours later-

"We can_not_ keep doing this!" Carlos whispered as the the 60th girl started singing, sounding just as bad as the last 3 people.

"We're only supposed to disqualify four a day? There were only 18 good singers!" Logan asked in disbelief. "Guys, we can do this...all we have to do is pick four people every day until they're gone, and the good people are left." The boys rolled their eyes and groaned, and Kendall looked at his list, "Okay, Mercedes Griffan...Mercedes?" Kendall looked up in shock.

"Hi, guys."

"Um, not to sound rude, but why are you here? Don't you have to pick big future hits for your dad or something?"

"Well, I wanted to sing in a band, and I picked you guys. Because you're all cute. Now let me sing!" Mercedes began to sing, but she was _horrible_. It was all the guys could do not to cover their ears. "Has she ever heard of singing lessons? Or _laryngitis_?" James said.

When it was over, Mercedes stood up there, hands on her hips expectantly. "Well, tell me how beautifully I did so I can leave!"

"Well...Mercedes, you were...well, you weren't bad, per se, but..." Kendall started after a silent fight to see who got to break it to her, which he apparently lost.

"Wait, stop," she said, putting her hand up. "You had better be telling me that I sing like an angel!" she said threateningly. "Or what?" Logan asked.

"Or else, you tell me that I'm bad, even in the slightest, and I'll tell Daddy." Mercedes said. Kendall laughed, the other three chuckling beside him. "Oh, you're going to tell you're dad that we were being honest? Oooooh, I'm sooooo scaaaared!"

"No." She got off the stage and walked over to where they sat, "I'll tell him that you were being mean, and called me the worst singer ever! And then Daddy will just have to end your guys' career."

They looked at each other in shock. "Oh, I'm sooo scared..." Kendall said in a small voice. "But we never said anything like that!" James exclaimed. "No, but you never told me I'm good, either." Mercedes said in a maddeningly superior tone.

"You're amazing!" they all said in unison, although Kendall and Logan said it in a tone of disbelief, instead of hurried reassurance like James and Carlos. Mercedes smiled, "Good!"

"But, wait!" Kendall said as she turned around to leave. She turned back, sighing impatiently. "Why are you doing this now? I thought we were cool?" he asked. The boys nodded vigorously behind him.

"We were...and then Logan broke my heart at that stupid party of yours," she said, pointedly glaring at Logan. He threw up his hands in a 'what?' gesture, and Carlos and James glared at him. "I told you I was sorry, Mercedes! I mean, I really didn't want to be your boyfriend," she looked angry at this, and he added hurriedly, "b-but I wanted you to be happy, so I was trying to...I'm sorry."

"So, you don't even like me?" The boys shook their heads in protest, but she continued, "Fine! Look, you better let me win, or Big Time Rush..." she leaned towards them over the table, so she was almost nose-to-nose with Kendall, "...is big time _over_!" She straightened, then walked to the exit. Kendall, James, and Carlos all looked at Logan.

"What? What did I do, now?"

**Oh, boy...Mercedes strikes again! I don't hate her, but I planned this out, and I could totally see this happening in an episode, so...plot twist! How will the boys figure this out? And I didn't like making Carlos sad...but I thought he would be, since he tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve. Review! ^_^**

**~Bella**


	4. Big Time Question?

**Okay, Chapter 4 is here! I wanna thank N e k o s o d a for the great reviews. So, last we knew, Mercedes just threatened the boys...what will they do about it? We'll see! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush, just Leah. I also don't own the song(s) that I use. I'm just borrowing them.**

"Logan! Why did you tell her we didn't like her?" Carlos asked, gripping his friend's shoulders. Logan shook him off, "I didn't say that!" he retorted.

"Well, she thinks that, now!" James said. "Guys, chill!" Kendall interjected quietly, "We can handle Mercedes. Logan was being honest with her; it worked before when I did it, it could work this time, too. I'm sure that she'll calm down by the end of the day." Carlos and James just looked at him skeptically, while Logan picked up the roster.

"Let's get this done...we have about 20 to 30 more girls, max." They all sat back and called the next contestant onstage.

Meanwhile, backstage, Leah was pacing back and forth. "Oh, man...this is crazy...there's so many other people here...and a lot of them are pretty good..." she stopped pacing and gasped. "What if I don't get it?" She sat down and sighed, "Oh, stop it...it's only the first day, and you know you'll do fine..." She looked up uncertainly as she heard the next girl ("Melody...no, Melanie Luciano? Bah, I can't remember...) break out into a song she was singing for BTR. "But compared to girls like that...I don't have a chance..." Her head dropped into her hands.

"Okay, Cheryl, thank you!" As Cheryl walked off, James leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Well, the good news is they're getting better."

Logan smiled, "Yep! My ears finally stopped ringing!"

Kendall rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. "Oh, c'mon, they weren't _that _bad_..._" he trailed off as they all looked at him. "Okay, so they were a little bad, but still!"

Carlos didn't look happy. "Yay..." he deadpanned. James clapped him on the shoulder, "Dude, it's fine! Leah's awesome, she'll come through and win this."

"Fairly," Kendall added. Carlos sighed, "I know, but did you hear these other girls? That Melanie girl was great! And she's not the only one..."

"Carlos, Carlos, Carlos...have some faith in Lee...you never know until she tries!" Logan said, then looked at his watch. "Oh, wow! It's already 5:30!"

"Time to call it quits!" Kendall said, standing up. Gustavo came up, "Whoa...how was that for a first day?" he asked. The boys all looked at him, "Bad!"

"I know! I mean...all those people, especially at first..."

"It was all I could do to keep him shouting at the girls himself," Kelly put in. "Hey! I was perfectly in control of myself!" Gustavo argued, but Kelly gave him a look. "I had to duct-tape your mouth shut."

"Oh, that's why your beard looks weird!" Carlos said, petting Gustavo's face. "ALRIGHT!" he yelled, making Carlos jump into Kendall's arms, "So I needed a little restraint, but I didn't give my opinions!"

"We know," they said in unison, with Logan adding "Nobody ran offstage terrified or crying." Gustavo glared at him for a minute before yelling for the girls' attention. "Okay, out onstage, all of you!" Once the girls gathered, Gustavo continued, We're finished with this portion today, where we made it all the way to the L's. That's some progress...I suppose..." the girls' grins all faded, and Kelly elbowed him, "But," he began again, "four of you, must,_ un_fortunately, be let go, and the four of you are..." he stopped, gesturing to the boys to read off those names.

"Erm...Karen Beardsly...Shelly Cesher...Tanya Fenshing...and Samantha Harper," James read off. Said girls burst into tears as their names read off, their best friends comforting them, and Shelly ran offstage, the boys looking on awkwardly.

"We'll pick this up tomorrow, got it? Same time, same place, now SCRAM!" They all ran in a hurry to the door, except for Leah.

"Sorry you didn't get to go," Carlos said, to which she shrugged. "Eh, it's cool. I mean, there are a LOT of girls here from around the country. I really didn't expect to go today." She said it casually, yet inside she felt a mixture of relief and disappointement.

"Ah, well. You get two more weeks, and if we just touched on the L's today, you get to sing in, at most, 2 days," Logan assured.

"Great!" Leah said, chuckling. "So, can we go? I'm kind of hungry..." The group of friends laughed, and Leah started walking, talking to James and Carlos. Kendall and Logan, meanwhile, stayed behind to talk to Gustavo. "Gustavo, listen...Mercedes auditioned..."

"I know, I saw _and_ heard her..."

"No! Listen...she threatened us..."

"Threatened you?" Kelly echoed. "Yes, that. She told us we need to pick her, or she's going to tell her father to stop sponsoring us!" Logan said urgently. "Hmmmm...that _is_ a problem..." Gustavo said calmly, which left Kendall and Logan momentarily speechless. "Well, just keep her in the competition, and make her a finalist...we'll see what happens then..."

Their jaws dropped at Gustavo's reaction, and as he walked away, Kelly said "He's taking anger management classes," before running after him. The hockey players looked at each other, and Logan threw up his hands. "Well, now what?"

Kendall shrugged, "We do as Gustavo says. It's all we can do, to keep it as fair as we can." Logan shook his head as they caught up with the other three outside the curb, waiting for Mrs. Knight's van.

**Okay, I know...short chapter, but I can't figure out how to add anything else in this chapter right now...everything that comes after I want in the next chapter, soooo yeah, it's pretty much a filler chapter. The girl named Melanie I mentioned, is a real friend of mine, and amazing guitarist/singer. So here's to you, Mel! :D So, click that lovely green button and review please! ^_^**


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